1960 – The first-place Pirates split with the Braves, winning, 9 – 7, before losing, 7 – 1. The Bucs rout Warren Spahn in the opener scoring seven runs in the 4th after the Braves have knocked out starter Bob Friend. Bob Buhl is the winner in the nitecap, scattering seven hits. Chuck Cottier has three doubles and three RBIs to back Buhl. Harvey Haddix is the loser and gives way to Diomedes Olivo, who makes his major league debut in relief. At age 41, or thereabouts, Olivo is the oldest rookie in major league history except for Satchel Paige. The International League MVP pitches two runless innings.

ByThis Day in Baseball

1960 – The first-place Pirates split with the Braves, winning, 9 – 7, before losing, 7 – 1. The Bucs rout Warren Spahn in the opener scoring seven runs in the 4th after the Braves have knocked out starter Bob Friend. Bob Buhl is the winner in the nitecap, scattering seven hits. Chuck Cottier has three doubles and three RBIs to back Buhl. Harvey Haddix is the loser and gives way to Diomedes Olivo, who makes his major league debut in relief. At age 41, or thereabouts, Olivo is the oldest rookie in major league history except for Satchel Paige. The International League MVP pitches two runless innings.

Bobby Del Greco wore 10 different uniform numbers in his 9 year career.

Bobby Del Greco wore 10 different uniform numbers in his 9 year career.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Bobby Del Greco was a light hitting outfielder who played in 9 major league seasons from 1952 to 1965. He played for six different teams, beginning his career in 1952 with the Pirates and ending in 1965 with the Phillies. Though a poor hitter, his excellent fielding made him a valuable asset to every team…

In a game described by Pirate shortstop Dick Groat as “the greatest I ever played in,” Pirates win 1-0 over the Giants.

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In a game described by Pirate shortstop Dick Groat as “the greatest I ever played in,” and by veteran Forbes Field observer Les Biederman as “probably the most thrilling spectacle ever witnessed by the greater portion of the 33,304 wild-eyed fans,” the World Series-bound Bucs buttress their 1st-place margin over Milwaukee by pulling out a 1 – 0 win over the 5th-place Giants. The game’s only run comes in the 8th inning, with Pirate centerfielder Bill Virdon scoring from first on an errant throw by pitcher Sam Jones. But it’s the non-scoring plays that are most spectacular: for the Giants, Willie Mays nips a 7th-inning Bucs uprising in the bud with a brilliant throw to cut down Don Hoak going first to third. However, it’s the Pirates’ Vinegar Bend Mizell who’s the chief beneficiary of this game’s defensive prowess: the “Say Hey Kid” himself is robbed of a sure extra-base hit by Roberto Clemente in a terrifying catch and crash that knocks the Pirates’ right fielder out of the game and out of the lineup for a week as he smashes face-on into the concrete base of the right-centerfield stands, at the 395-foot mark, and collapses on the dirt warning track. Five stitches are required to close a laceration on his chin, and his left knee is sorely damaged. An inning before that, Virdon made a tremendous running grab of Felipe Alou’s bomb to the distant left center light tower, and, in the 8th, Virdon makes what Biederman will describe as “the play of the season,” coming close to making a leaping grab of Andre Rodgers’ drive to the 406-foot mark in left center, then recovering almost instantly to make a strong, accurate throw to 3B Hoak. Out by a mile is Rodgers, making an ill-advised, two-out try for third.

The Bucs return to first place as Bob Friend defeats the Cardinals, 4 – 2, in St. Louis. As UPI tells it: “Bob Skinner’s home run in the 8th inning broke a 2-all tie and Roberto Clemente iced it with a tremendous blast into the bleachers for the Pirates’ final run in the 9th.” Pittsburgh will remain atop the National League for the rest of the season. Clemente’s long home run – actually off the scoreboard behind Busch Stadium’s left-centerfield bleachers, according to The Sporting News’s Les Biederman – breaks a 73-game home run drought, dating back to a similarly prodigious shot launched at Candlestick Park on May 6.

ByThis Day in Baseball

The Bucs return to first place as Bob Friend defeats the Cardinals, 4 – 2, in St. Louis. As UPI tells it: “Bob Skinner’s home run in the 8th inning broke a 2-all tie and Roberto Clemente iced it with a tremendous blast into the bleachers for the Pirates’ final run in the 9th.” Pittsburgh will remain atop the National League for the rest of the season. Clemente’s long home run – actually off the scoreboard behind Busch Stadium’s left-centerfield bleachers, according to The Sporting News’s Les Biederman – breaks a 73-game home run drought, dating back to a similarly prodigious shot launched at Candlestick Park on May 6.

Roberto Clemente
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In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win

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In the first of this year’s two All-Star Games, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend notches his second win in the National League’s last three with 3 innings of one-hit, shutout ball. Friend’s performance plus home runs by Ernie Banks and Del Crandall – not to mention perennial All-Star luminary, Willie Mays, falling just a few feet shy of the cycle – pace the Senior Circuit to a 5 – 3 decision over its junior counterpart at Kansas City’s Municipal Stadium. Albeit not affecting the game’s outcome, a somewhat splashy All-Star debut is made by Friend’s teammate, Roberto Clemente, if only on the wrong end of a circus catch. As readers nationwide will be shown and told by the Associated Press, Clemente’s sole at-bat results in a singularly loud out: “Many a batsman has ‘made his mark’ on the KC left field wall (note numerous dents), but the AL’s Jim Lemon pulled a spectacular catch to prevent Roberto Clemente’s long smash from adding another ‘scar’ in the 9th inning of Monday’s All-Star game.”

Andre Rodgers becomes the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues when he grounds into a 6-4 force play facing Bob Friend in the top of the second inning of the Giants’ 9-2 loss in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. The 22 year-old shortstop’s roommate and fellow Caribbean, Valmy Thomas, entering the game in the sixth to replace catcher Wes Westrum, also becomes the first native of the Virgin Islands to play in a big league game.

ByThis Day in Baseball

Andre Rodgers becomes the first Bahamian to play in the major leagues when he grounds into a 6-4 force play facing Bob Friend in the top of the second inning of the Giants’ 9-2 loss in Pittsburgh’s Forbes Field. The 22 year-old shortstop’s roommate and fellow Caribbean, Valmy Thomas, entering the game in the sixth to replace catcher Wes Westrum, also becomes the first native of the Virgin Islands to play in a big league game.

Roberto Clemente celebrates opening day with a 410-footer followed by a 445-footer. Unfortunately, this is Forbes Field, so neither of the long drives leaves the park. According to the Uniontown Evening Standard: “Clemente starched the ball all four times he was at the plate… In the 2nd inning Clemente lined a shot off the wall at the 406 mark. In the 5th he lashed a drive to the deepest part of centerfield …” The latter shot is characterized by Pirates beat writer Les Biederman as “one of the longest outs possible at Forbes Field. He chased Vada Pinson to the batting cage in deep center with three on for his 445-foot fly ball that turned into a sacrifice fly.”

ByThis Day in Baseball

Roberto Clemente celebrates opening day with a 410-footer followed by a 445-footer. Unfortunately, this is Forbes Field, so neither of the long drives leaves the park. According to the Uniontown Evening Standard: “Clemente starched the ball all four times he was at the plate… In the 2nd inning Clemente lined a shot off the wall at the 406 mark. In the 5th he lashed a drive to the deepest part of centerfield …” The latter shot is characterized by Pirates beat writer Les Biederman as “one of the longest outs possible at Forbes Field. He chased Vada Pinson to the batting cage in deep center with three on for his 445-foot fly ball that turned into a sacrifice fly.”

The NFL Steelers beat the Pirates, 22-20 in a benefit basketball game played at the Field House for the Children’s Hospital

The NFL Steelers beat the Pirates, 22-20 in a benefit basketball game played at the Field House for the Children’s Hospital

ByThis Day in Baseball

The NFL Steelers beat the Pirates, 22-20 in a benefit basketball game played at the Field House for the Children’s Hospital. The Bucs’ very competitive shortstop Dick Groat, a Duke University hoop standout, scores 14 points, but takes exception to the foul called on him by Bob Prince, the team’s broadcaster refereeing the game, that allows their football rivals to tie the score in the final few seconds of the contest and eventually win the scheduled 15-minute exhibition in overtime.